


come over here (just for a moment)

by green_tea31



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Episode: s03e15 K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 17:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19381321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_tea31/pseuds/green_tea31
Summary: Mac is no idiot, but he’ll admit freely that, occasionally, he can be somewhat slow on the uptake when it comes to the subtle underlying messages people try to tell him without actually – you know – telling him.So, when Jack talks about the replacement he chose to watch Mac’s back for however long it’s going to take Jack to hunt down Kovacs, Mac doesn’t really get it. Jack talks about her like there is a joke Mac ought to be in on, but Mac doesn’t really connect her toheruntil-Until she breaks into his house.In retrospect, he probably should have expected this.(Scenes from a slightly different universe, one where Mac's known Desi almost as long as Jack has.)





	come over here (just for a moment)

**Author's Note:**

> So, I finally figured out why MacGyver has left me slightly cold ever since Jack left. I wasn't even all that impressed by Mason to be honest and I think I know why. I think this show was always strongest when Mac was allowed to show emotion, and when this emotion was then filtered through Jack's pov. Don't get me wrong, Lucas is an amazing actor, but this show depends so much on the interaction of its ensemble cast that not every episode can be War Room and Ship. 
> 
> With George leaving, they didn't just kill that family feel, they also managed to kill the urgency I felt whenever Mac was in danger, or emotionally compromised. I know they're probably trying to fill that role by using James MacGyver, but I just don't buy it. He left Mac when he was ten. Taking into account the fact that we don't remember a lot about our early childhood, it could be argued that Mac has actually, consciously known Jack for longer than he's known his dad.
> 
> Since I like Desi, but feel that the writers have trouble actually developing her character, and her and Mac's relationship in a way that's believable, this is the one thing I would have done differently about her introduction. It would have made developing their relationship easier, and maybe kept some of the characters more in character. It would have also presented the opportunity to use Desi's pov to filter the danger Mac puts himself in, and possibly given us back some of that family feel. This show likes character development without putting in the work a little too much for my liking, but this once, I would have actually been happy about it.
> 
> Some vague OT3 feels might have slipped in in the very last scene, but it can very much be read as gen. I do have some ideas for a Mac/Jack/Desi fic though. Some dialogue taken from 3x15. 
> 
> As always, self-betaed. All mistakes are my own.
> 
> Title from "Waiting for the Morning Train" by Element of Crime.

Mac is no idiot, but he’ll admit freely that, occasionally, he can be somewhat slow on the uptake when it comes to the subtle underlying messages people try to tell him without actually – you know – _telling_ him.

So, when Jack talks about the replacement he chose to watch Mac’s back for however long it’s going to take Jack to hunt down Kovacs, Mac doesn’t really get it. Jack talks about her like there is a joke Mac ought to be in on, but Mac doesn’t really connect her to _her_ until-

Until she breaks into his house.

In retrospect, he probably should have expected this.

…

_Afghanistan, January 2012_

_“This your EOD wunderkind? The one everybody’s talking about?” Mac nearly falls out of his seat, startled by the sudden appearance of another soldier plopping herself down next to Jack. His overwatch throws him a look, and if Mac wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep right there over his questionable dinner, he’d be more embarrassed about being caught unaware like this._

_Jack sighs a very exhausted sigh. “Dez, thought you weren’t due until next week?” She raises an eyebrow and grins at them._

_“At which point you two would have conveniently been away, volunteering for some kind of milk run?” She turns to Mac with a smile that’s just this side of wicked._

_“Desiree Nguyen. Since Dalton seems to have lost his manners somewhere between here and Kandahar. Call me Desiree at your own risk – it’s Desi or Dez.” Mac smiles back._

_“Angus MacGyver. Call me Mac,” he says, ignoring Jack’s vaguely panicked expression._

_“Oh no, definitely not. You two are not allowed to be friends.” They turn to him, askance, and Jack swallows nervously._

_Mac has never seen his overwatch this flustered. He’s going to have fun with this one._

…

“Next time get Spicy Ranch.”

Mac is too young to die of a heart attack, but his heart is currently doing its best to convince him otherwise. The only reason he doesn’t grab the next object to use as a weapon is the fact that he _recognizes_ that voice.

He turns around. Desi quirks an eyebrow at him, letting her gaze wander over his towel-clad form.

“Best flavour, hands down.” She tilts her head, clearly not impressed. “Not that I have anything against barbeque.”

Mac chuckles and grips his towel tighter. “You always did have an odd taste in snack foods…tell me he didn’t.”

“Yes he did,” Desi says, grinning, and gets up. “By the way, your alarm system’s a joke, and a toddler could pick your locks.” Mac sighs.

“How did Jack even get you to come to LA? I thought you were happy not talking to people for the rest of your life?” Mac asks, honestly curious now. He should have known, given Jack’s almost giddy expression while telling Mac about his replacement, that there was something more to it, but Desi is kind of the last person he would have expected in that role.

He’s grateful – don’t get him wrong – it’s going to make a lot of things easier given that they already know each other, but the last time Mac had tried to invite her to LA, even just for a holiday, her refusal had been… _adamant_.

Desi smiles, somewhat sadly. “You know what I owe him, Mac.”

Mac wants to tell her that she doesn’t need to do this just because Jack asked, but she’s always made her own decisions, and Desiree Nguyen rarely lets herself be persuaded into doing things she doesn’t want to do. Mac tries not to feel too flattered that protecting him is apparently among those things.

“And besides, you need someone to make sure you don’t get yourself killed while Jack is off hunting terrorists, so…” She grins at him; it’s the same grin she had for their first meeting.

“Better hurry, genius boy. You’re gonna be late for work.” She drops her gaze to his towel. “Probably need to put on more than that.”

Mac grimaces and concedes the point. Matty is not going to be happy with him. Desi steps closer, and suddenly Mac has an idea how a helpless pray must feel in the presence of an apex predator.

“Two quick things.” Mac raises a questioning eyebrow.

“One, you’re out of chips.” Then she slaps something against his forehead.

“And two? You’re dead.”

Oh yeah – this is going to be _fun_.

…

_Afghanistan, February 2012_

_“Hey buddy. You still alive?” Jack’s voice feels like a cheese grater on his hungover brain and Mac barely manages to grab the glass of water Jack is holding out to him._

_“I told you not to go drinking with Dez,” Jack tells him while Mac swallows a couple of pain pills and chucks down a big chunk of the blessedly cool water. Mac isn’t really one to go out and drink much, and alcohol is pretty much banned for the American military stationed in Afghanistan anyway, but that doesn’t mean soldiers can’t get their hands on it if they try._

_“I didn’t actually plan on drinking anything,” Mac grumbles while righting himself with Jack’s help._

_Jack chuckles. “Also, you’re a lightweight.” Mac nods._

_“Yeah, that, too.”_

_“Why did you agree to it anyway?” Jack asks and Mac grimaces._

_“Lost a bet,” he mumbles, slightly embarrassed by the whole thing._

_“I’m sorry?”_

_“I lost a bet,” Mac repeats, slightly louder. “Happy now? And before you ask – no, I’m not going to tell you what it was about.”_

_Jack pats his shoulder in sympathy. “Come on, lie down again. You’ve got a few hours left to catch some shuteye. I’ll make sure no one disturbs your beauty sleep.”_

_Mac drops back onto his cot gratefully. He falls asleep in the comforting presence of his overwatch._

…

Mac finds Riley after the mission brief. He’s seen the glint in her eyes whenever Desi spoke, and while he’s asked Riley to use her skills for less than Phoenix approved purposes in the past, this time, there are a lot of things the team doesn’t know about Desi, and most of those, she should be able to tell them on her own terms – if she wants to.

Mac knows a thing or two about the past haunting your present. There’s a reason they don’t talk about Cairo after all, a reason beyond whatever embarrassing story Bozer and Riley have likely made up by now.

“Hey Riles,” he says, wandering into the room. Riley looks up and there’s a slightly guilty look on her face that means she’s probably already started digging.

“Mac. Hey. Shouldn’t you be doing whatever it is you’re normally doing before a mission?”

Mac sits down next to her. The screen of her laptop is dark, deliberately if Mac had to guess. He smiles at her.

“I need you to stop doing whatever it is you’re doing right now,” Mac says, not bothering with a gentle approach. He and Riley have always been able to be honest with each other, even when talking about difficult topics, and it’s one of the things he values most about their friendship.

She frowns. “Mac-“

“Look - Jack chose Desi for this job. Shouldn’t we trust him that she isn’t about to screw us over?” Mac asks. Riley looks frustrated and Mac understands. She’s always used everything at her disposal to protect the people she loves, but Riley also understands the importance of _privacy_. That there are some things too painful to have dragged out into the open like this.

He puts a hand over hers. “You told me about prison on your own terms. Shouldn’t Desi have the right to do the same with whatever seems to haunt her? Come on – trust Jack, Riles. I know it’s hard with him being gone, but give Desi a chance.”

Riley smiles and wraps her fingers around his, taking comfort in the contact. They’ve talked a lot after Jack first left, got drunk, too. Mac knows it’s just as hard for her as it is for him, only in different ways.

She looks at him, a calculating expression in her eyes that Mac isn’t entirely sure he likes all that much.

“You _know_ her.” Riley suddenly looks like Christmas and her birthday have come at once. “It’s not just Jack – _you_ know her, too.”

Mac sighs. He’d hoped to let Desi’s relationship with the team develop without bringing their backstory into it this quickly, but he should have known better. The people in his life are just way too perceptive.

…

_Afghanistan, March 2012_

_“And that’s how I lost a pair of perfectly good boots to an active volcano,” Desi concludes her story, gripping Mac’s hand even tighter. Mac tries to smile at her, grateful for her presence, but it comes out as more of a grimace, given that a building collapsed on them not so long ago. The dust has turned everything around them chalk white, and Mac isn’t sure whether he’s having trouble with his breathing because of that or if it’s a symptom of something much more sinister._

_“I’m slowly beginning to realize why Jack didn’t want us to meet,” Mac manages to croak out. Desi raises an eyebrow._

_“You probably shouldn’t talk, Mac.” She scoots closer, carefully trying not to touch the debris around them. Mac is way too compromised to do any calculations about structural stability and blast radius, so he just told her not to move anything and wait for rescue._

_He’s just so damn tired._

_“Hey, Mac. I think I can hear someone.” Desi looks around, excitement in her eyes. Mac feels his eyelids drop, too exhausted to stay awake for much longer._

_“Mac? Mac, come on. I think rescue’s coming.” She squeezes his hand again. Mac just manages to give a squeeze back before his body gives up on him and consciousness is no longer an option._

_He’ll tell her about melting down the football stadium ~~if~~ when he wakes up again._

…

“Hey, sorry I’m late. I had to make a stop.” Desi catches him in the kitchen after the mission, handing him a bag of Spicy Ranch flavoured chips. She shrugs at his look.

“Since I finished yours.”

Mac grins. “Trying to inflict your terrible taste on the rest of us?”

“Says the man in the plaid shirt.” Mac chuckles. Fair enough. He’s well-aware he’s not exactly at the height of fashion.

“Didn’t think you’d come when I invited you,” he tells her, putting the chips on the counter. Desi suddenly looks uncomfortable.

“Well, Jack made me promise to come to at least one of these.” She shrugs. “I’m not staying. Just wanted to drop those off.”

Mac almost asks her to reconsider, almost tries to get her to stay, but-

He knows Desi. She’s lost as much as he has during her life, and she didn’t have the advantage of Jack’s steady presence, or Bozer’s life-long friendship to cushion the blows. She’ll find her place on the team on her own terms, and maybe she’ll make some friends while she’s at it – no matter how much she’ll try separating herself from them.

Desi turns back to the door.

“Hey, Dez?” She stops, looking over her shoulder.

“Yeah, Mac?”

“Thanks.” Mac doesn’t need to specify what he’s thanking her for. She knows him well-enough to know by now. Desi smiles.

“You’re welcome.”

…

_Afghanistan, April 2012_

_Desi is fidgeting which makes him nervous, because Desi doesn’t fidget. Mac is about to be shipped home – medical discharge – and thanks to the influence of Patricia Thornton, Jack is going to join him shortly._

_Mac’s just signed up to become a secret agent. He isn’t entirely sure that was the right decision, but only time will tell._

_“You know, you could still join us,” Mac says. “I’m sure Thornton could find a place for you.”_

_Desi stills and looks at him. There’s something sad in her eyes that makes him want to cheer her up rather desperately._

_“I don’t think so, genius boy.” She steps closer to him, raising a hand to wipe a bit of fluff from his uniform. “You two are much better suited for that.”_

_“Desi-“_

_“Take care, alright? Don’t make me come down there because you got shot or something.” She sounds closer to tears than Mac would have expected, and there’s really only one response to that._

_“Please don’t stab me?”_

_“What-“_

_He hugs her. Desi’s arms come up around him, hesitantly at first, but then she’s clinging to him just as much as Mac clings to her._

_“Hey, can anyone get in on the hug?” Jack’s voice makes them draw back from each other. Desi looks at him, and Mac shrugs. They hold out their arms._

_If their hug lasts slightly longer than most people would deem appropriate – no one is there to judge them._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently MacGyver is adding a military guy as season four regular. I don't want to read too much into this, but am I the only one worried about that? Regarding Desi's future on the show and the writers' habit to just throw stuff at the audience to see what sticks? I just hope they concentrate on developing her character instead of giving Mac another possible military buddy to resurrect the relationship he had with Jack.


End file.
